中文导读

太阳能电池板最怕什么？吸光能力强的材料，往往很快就把吸收来的能量“浪费”掉。牛津大学牵头的一项新研究发现，一种叫硫化铋的材料似乎能绕开这个难题：它吸光很强，电荷消失得却慢得多。文章先用简单的语言解释太阳能电池中电子和“空穴”的作用，再交代研究人员如何用激光和不同温度做实验，接着说明计算揭示的原因，最后介绍这项发现可能带来的用处和研究者强调的局限。阅读时可留意 However、Because、Still 等词如何引出转折与因果，以及文中如何区分“已经证明的机制”和“尚未做成的电池”。

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Solar panels have a problem that is hard to see. The materials that are best at catching sunlight are often the worst at keeping the energy they catch. A new study, published on 28 October in the journal Nature, suggests that this trade-off can be avoided. Researchers led by the University of Oxford found that a material called bismuth sulfide can absorb light strongly while losing its energy much more slowly.

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太阳能电池板有一个不容易被看到的问题：最擅长捕捉阳光的材料，往往最不擅长留住捕获的能量。10 月 28 日发表在《自然》杂志上的一项新研究表明，这种取舍是可以避免的。由牛津大学牵头的研究人员发现，一种叫作硫化铋的材料能够强烈吸收光，同时让能量损失得慢得多。

A solar cell is made from a semiconductor, a material that takes in sunlight and uses its energy to free tiny particles called electrons. Each electron leaves behind a positive “hole“. To make electricity, these charges must be collected before an electron and a hole meet again. When they meet, they cancel each other out, and their energy is wasted.

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太阳能电池由半导体制成。半导体是一种吸收阳光、并利用其能量释放出被称为电子的微小粒子的材料。每个电子都会留下一个带正电的“空穴”。要产生电，这些电荷必须在电子和空穴再次相遇之前被收集起来。一旦相遇，它们就会相互抵消，所携带的能量也就浪费了。

In most materials, strong light absorption and long-lasting charges do not go together. Materials that absorb more light usually lose their charges faster. This has long limited how much sunlight solar cells can turn into electricity.

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在大多数材料中，强吸光和持久的电荷无法兼得。吸收光越多的材料，通常电荷损失得越快。长期以来，这限制了太阳能电池能把多少阳光转化为电能。

The team tested thin layers of bismuth sulfide. They hit them with very short laser pulses and then measured how quickly the charges disappeared. They repeated the tests at many temperatures, from room temperature to just above absolute zero, the coldest possible temperature.

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研究团队测试了硫化铋薄层。他们用极短的激光脉冲照射这些薄层，然后测量电荷消失的速度。他们在多种温度下重复了测试，从室温一直到略高于绝对零度——也就是可能达到的最低温度。

Calculations by another Oxford group helped explain the results. The material takes in light mainly through one strong path between energy levels. However, just below it lies a second, much weaker path, where charges are lost only slowly. Because the two are so close, charges spend much of their time in this lower state, which works like a temporary store. In most materials, charges disappear faster when it gets colder. In bismuth sulfide, they disappeared more slowly, as the model predicted. At room temperature, the team estimates, this cuts the rate of loss by about 75 percent compared with similar materials.

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牛津大学另一个小组的计算帮助解释了这些结果。这种材料主要通过能级之间一条很强的路径吸收光。然而，就在它下方还有第二条弱得多的路径，电荷在那里只会缓慢损失。由于两者非常接近，电荷有很多时间停留在这个较低的状态中，它就像一个临时的储存处。在大多数材料中，温度越低，电荷消失得越快；而在硫化铋中，正如模型预测的那样，电荷消失得更慢。研究团队估计，在室温下，与吸光能力相近的材料相比，这能把损失速率降低约 75%。

“Our work shows that this trade-off is not inevitable,” said Professor Laura Herz, who led the study. Charges that last longer have a better chance of being collected. They could also give more time for the chemical reactions that turn sunlight into fuels.

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“我们的研究表明，这种取舍并非不可避免。”领导这项研究的劳拉·赫兹教授说。持续时间更长的电荷更有机会被收集起来。它们还可能为把阳光转化为燃料的化学反应提供更多时间。

Still, the researchers stress that they have shown how the material behaves, not built a finished solar cell. They believe other materials with the same property could be found by searching databases, or even designed. The work was carried out by the University of Oxford together with Wuhan University in China, and more research is needed before the idea reaches rooftops.

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不过，研究人员强调，他们展示的是这种材料的表现方式，而不是一块已经做好的太阳能电池。他们认为，具有同样特性的其他材料可以通过搜索数据库找到，甚至可以被设计出来。这项研究由牛津大学与中国的武汉大学合作完成，在这一想法用到屋顶上之前，还需要更多研究。

新闻来源

• University of Oxford · Semiconductor breakthrough overcomes major challenge in capturing solar energy (28 Oct 2026)

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